HealthTrust Performance Group™ (HealthTrust) participated in the 2026 Becker’s CEO + CFO Roundtable held November 2–5 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, where two executive panel discussions focused on critical challenges facing healthcare organizations: operating room economics and the future of supply chain leadership.

The four-day conference brought together more than 1,500 executive-level attendees and more than 450 hospital and health system speakers, creating a forum for leading healthcare decision-makers to exchange strategies for addressing financial pressures and improving operational performance through peer exchange of ideas and sharing practical insights.

HealthTrust’s contributions focused on two priorities: strengthening the clinical and financial performance of surgical services and building more resilient, data-driven supply chains better able to anticipate disruption and deliver measurable value.

Operating Room Economics: What the Best Teams Do Differently

Aashish Shah, MD, JD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of HealthTrust, took the stage for OR Economics: What the Best Teams Do Differently, alongside physician and healthcare executives from BayCare Clinic, Vandalia Health Mon Medical Center, University of Michigan Health Sparrow and UnityPoint Health. The session, moderated by Francesca Mathewes of Becker’s Healthcare, offered an opportunity to learn practical approaches to improving operating room efficiency, evaluating supply and technology decisions and translating performance data into measurable improvements in care delivery.

As the panelists discussed, the operating room is one of health system’s most resource-intensive areas and presents significant opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs and strengthen financial performance without compromising patient care. To sustain improvements, health systems need to translate operational data into action, engage physicians in meaningful change and align clinical decisions with financial and operational priorities.

Dr. Shah drew on his experience as a physician, a healthcare executive and leader of HealthTrust’s clinical strategy and Performance Solutions team, to bring a perspective focused on connecting clinical excellence with measurable operational and financial value.

The panel’s discussion further examined what distinguishes high-performing surgical teams, including how organizations can move beyond tracking operating room utilization and inefficiencies to implementing improvements in block scheduling, surgical throughput, resource allocation and overall operating room performance.

Dr. Shah further emphasized the importance of evaluating value across multiple dimensions, including cost, quality, patient outcomes and experience, rather than pursuing savings in isolation. He emphasized the role of physician alignment in identifying waste, improving utilization and supporting decisions that protect clinical quality while strengthening financial sustainability.

The Next 3 Years of Supply Chain Leadership

Eric Swaim, MBA, Senior Vice President of Strategic Sourcing at HealthTrust, joined supply chain executives from Mayo Clinic, Texas Children’s and the University of Texas Medical Branch for The Next 3 Years of Supply Chain Leadership, a forward-looking discussion examining the capabilities, partnerships and technologies that will define high-performing healthcare supply chains through 2029, moderated by Mackenzie Bean of Becker’s Healthcare.

As the panelists discussed, health systems are confronting persistent supply disruptions, changing global trade conditions, increasing operational complexity and continued financial pressures, which are challenging supply chain leaders to move beyond traditional purchasing and cost containment and toward a more strategic role in organizational performance.

With executive responsibility spanning the medical-surgical portfolio, sourcing and clinical operations and global sourcing, Swaim provided an operator’s perspective shaped by experience managing supply chain operations during significant healthcare disruptions and leading enterprise sourcing transformation.

The conversation included how artificial intelligence and predictive analytics can help healthcare organizations anticipate disruptions, improve demand forecasting and strengthen sourcing decisions. Drawing on HealthTrust’s work with AI-enabled supply risk intelligence and data-driven supplier-performance monitoring, Swaim offered insights into how organizations can translate emerging technologies into practical improvements in visibility, responsiveness and supply continuity.

The session emphasized the growing need to balance enterprise-wide standardization with the distinct requirements of individual hospitals, clinical specialties and care settings. The panelists observed that effective supply chain leadership increasingly depends on collaboration with physicians, nursing leaders and finance executives to make informed decisions that consider utilization, clinical outcomes and total cost of care. They stressed the importance that hospital executives have a forward-looking perspective on making supply chain performance a strategic advantage, balancing cost management with reliability, resilience and the ability to support uninterrupted patient care.

Connecting Clinical Excellence, Supply Chain Strategy and Sustainable Performance

HealthTrust’s participation underscores the importance of bringing clinical, operational and financial perspectives together as healthcare organizations confront mounting pressure to improve performance.

Although the two discussions address different areas of healthcare operations, they share a common objective: helping providers make better-informed decisions that deliver measurable value.

From engaging physicians and applying clinical analytics to improve surgical economics to using predictive intelligence to strengthen supply chain reliability, both conversations reflect the growing need for integrated strategies that address cost, quality and operational effectiveness.

Through its clinically-aligned approach to sourcing and performance improvement, HealthTrust works with healthcare organizations to identify opportunities, reduce unnecessary variation and strengthen execution across the care continuum.

For more information about HealthTrust, visit HealthTrust Performance Group.

About HealthTrust Performance Group

HealthTrust Performance Group™ (HealthTrust) is a leading healthcare performance improvement organization owned and operated by health systems. HealthTrust is dedicated to strengthening provider performance and clinical excellence through an aligned membership model and business advisory solutions that leverage expertise, scale and innovation. Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., HealthTrust supports approximately 1,900 hospitals and health systems in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, and more than 90,000 non‑acute sites of care, including ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices, long-term care and alternate care sites. HealthTrust has been recognized as a Top Workplace in Middle Tennessee for four consecutive years.

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